Gracious thank you to friends Dave and Tami Gunter from Sandpoint, Idaho. They took time out of their business (organizing over one hundred kids music parts for their school musical!) and pleasure (soaking at Ainsworth Hotsprings) trip to play us a tune ‘From the Pew’ at Mtn Fruit.
Grit Laskin, Jeremy Eisenhauer and Mini Condensers!
Local singer/songwriter Jeremy Eisenhauer showed up the other day with a handmade guitar by none other than Canadian Luthier Icon Grit Laskin. Beautiful sounding guitar which we attempted to amplify in a way that does it’s tone justice. What we came up with is relatively faithful to the guitar and reasonably affordable, at least when you compare to something like the very popular DPA D-Vote mini condenser. Our configuration actually uses a the D-Vote guitar clamp which I have to say is very well conceived but to it we have clamped an Audix Micro-HP mini condenser. Perhaps not the holy grail of setups but it went together reliably and the sound is most definitely pleasing! Have a listen;
Blues Repair
A guitar dropped at ‘just the right angle’, allowing it to impact on an edge will easily cause damage without much force, especially in cedar.
This is one of the Godin series of acoustics with some sort of poly based finish. More challenging to repair than a nitro type finish but doable with patience! Not 100% invisible but close.
Happy New Year!
We’ve been back at it for awhile now, after our christmas break, and are finally getting our ecommerce platform to a functioning state. Please click on the shop link and have a look, we are adding product weekly, your feedback is welcome!
Common Bow Repair
Frogs that are stubborn in movement when tensioning hair and have a gap between them and the stick are common and in many cases are due to a loose eyelet or, as in the case of this bow, an eyelet that was installed at an incorrect angle. Correct alignments and tolerances of all the components that join frog and stick together are a necessity if the frog is to move easily and to reduce wear on the parts. None of this is too surprising as tensioning the hair definitely produces some stress on these relatively delicate moving parts.
Correcting a loose or misaligned eyelet is usually straighforward with the wonderful eyelet alignment tool in the photo below. One can drill an oversize hole for an oversize shank eyelet at a perfect right angle to the underslide. Or one can drill out the entire damaged area and fill it with an ebony plug and redrill for a std eyelet depending on the situation.
This frog had an eyelet installed at quite an angle.
Removed existing eyelet on left, drilled an oversive hole with tool pictured and installed thick shank eyelet.
Std vs Thick Shank Eylet.
New eyelet installed solidly and showing good alignment!
Right hand man on a sojourn!
Kevin John who has been apprenticing in repair with Mtn Fruit and also manning the storefront while I had some much needed time off has embarked on another journey for the winter! He’s off to Vancouver Island to find his fortune or whatever comes his way. We’ve grown fond of having Kevin on our team and will miss him but wish him well on his adventure.
Trinity College Octave Mandolin “The Humours of Whiskey”
Here’s a quick video that Kevin put together to show off the rich, mellow sound of the Octave Mandolin.
Brian DenHertog – New Song Live from Mountain Fruit
Brian DenHertog performs an original song, Bridesville Cemetery Road, Live from the Pew. Brian is shown playing an Eastman 00 with a solid Adirondack Spruce top. Beautiful music, beautiful guitar. Thank you Brian!
Sahara Jane and Daunt Lee give us our daily dose of Celtic Mandolin (and Banjolin!)
Sahara Jane and Daunt Lee recently played at Kaslo’s Blue Belle Bistro
These two wonderful players show off a Celtic Duo titled Uncle Gerald’s Burnt Potato.
Live from the Pew at Mountain Fruit Folklore Centre.
The magical tequila boys on the pew!
Another wonderful moment of beautiful people sharing themselves at the Mtn Fruit!
If you missed ‘The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra’ last night at the Bluebelle Bistro in Kaslo you can catch them tonight at the Gray Creek Hall!
Thanks Again guys!
No mothers?! Mothers day coming!!
John Kestalic visited the shop awhile ago but I thought now would be a good time to post his visit due to the unusual name of the band he and his brother have formed. ‘No Mothers’ is comprised of two brothers (John and Tony) who both play viola and sing! Story I recall is they had a rule as youngsters that when they disagreed they couldn’t use mom to settle there differences or take sides! Super nice guy with a beautiful handmade viola by Chris Sandvoss who lives in the foothills of Alberta.
Violin Crack Repair
This lovely violin had an old crack that was beginning to reopen and fill with grime, as seen to the left. Always more of a challenge when the crack ends blind in the middle of the top!
Below left, apologies for the blurry photo, one can see the caramelized sludge when the crack is flexed for cleaning. Below right is a photo after the crack has been cleaned, one has to be very careful to leave the wood intact while cleaning for a good glue joint.
The middle two photos below show the clamping during glue up and cleating processes. Cleating reinforces the crack and hopefully prevents another reopening.
The last photo at the bottom of the page shows the top reattached to the rest of the violin and varnish touch-up over the reglued crack, all done! 
Until Red on the Pew
These fine young fellows (and they did seem young) from Brandon, MB played us a song on a brief visit to the Mtn Fruit the other day. Lovely blend of voices and infectious positive energy. Roman is playing a handmade drum from Bill Machuga of Gold Line drums in Kelowna, Liam, a used Vantage acoustic bass and Dillon, one of the new Eastman 00 models with Adirondack spruce top. All currently available at the Mtn Fruit.
Adjusting wheels for Double Bass bridges
Adding anodized aluminum adjustment wheels to a well fitted decent quality bass bridge is a useful modification I offer at the shop. Makes seasonal action adjustments much easier and far more affordable! Done well the affect on tone and energy transmission is totally acceptable. 
Jeff Lang gives 1967 Gibson a workout
Slide player Jeff Lang knows his music and he knows his guitars. We had a great chat about both and he applied the requisite technique to the 1967 Gibson for sale in the shop right now. The result was impressive and he was impressed. In his words this Gibson is a very nice players guitar with near perfect neck angle, action and tone but not a collectors guitar. As in not mint condition, a few rough spots but nothing major, functional or structural.
Eastman Archtop’s new owner
Accomplished multi-instrumentalist Marty Hamilton tries out his new Eastman AR 810CE before taking it home! Apologies for the background noise.
Not ready for a Sitar?
How about a Dulsitar?
Recently did a project for Nelson based accomplished musician Andrew Ross. Andrew asked for a left handed dulcimer on a guitar body with some sitar overtones. Only the two plain steel octave strings have the Jawari effect.
Andrew kindly posted a YT video of some inspired playing that arose shortly after he received the modified 1940’s Kay.
Moyo Marimba plays at Kuimba Choir concerts!
If you’ve never seen a marimba band playing instruments they’ve made and you like to dance, now’s your chance!
Karen Behns fantastic community choir will be performing in Argenta tonight at 7:30 at the Argenta Hall and Tomorrow night, Sat the 31’st of May at the United Church in Kaslo, also at 7:30pm.
Moyo Marimba will perform somewhere in the middle of their performance to give the choir a break, see you there!
We take care of the details!
The fact is that many commercial guitars and violins have poor setup, not all, but many. Here are some photos of a maple/ebony saddle in the spider/bridge of a brand new resonator. The core of this guitar is fine, with decent quality for the money and a very good sounding american made cone from Paul Beard. The saddle however is not that well done and unfortunately it’s an important part of good tone production. These are the sorts of details I address on any instruments that I carry. Most of what I carry doesn’t have these issues but occasionally some of the instruments I sell do need some attention and rest assured that if they don’t get addressed before going on the floor for sale I try to make sure they get addressed before they get sold and even then you need only bring the instrument back to me after purchase and I will deal with these factory oversights free of charge.
We do custom pickguards!
This client doesn’t like the traditional raised pick guards and associated hardware found on many mandolins. So we installed a faux tortoise shell directly onto the surface of his Eastman MD 505 A-style Mandolin in classic sunburst. Happy to say there was no significant affect on the tone of the instrument and he was pleased with the function and the aesthetic of the pickguard!
The top was refinished on this 70’s Gibson below (at the request of the owner!) and we used a clear pick guard to replace the original which had left a patch underneath that wasn’t so UV affected. Overall a neat effect as it looks as though the pick guard is made of the same wood as the top just a slightly different hue.
Larrivee binding swap
As well crafted as Larrivee guitars are this client wasn’t enjoying the aesthetic of the ivoroid binding around the fingerboard and requested ebony replacements. As with many folks cost was a concern so I assessed the situation and decided the binding could be swapped out without a refret which reduces the cost greatly. Tricky job, fitting the replacement binding under the overhanging fret ends but the end result was perfectly acceptable and, as stated, a lot cheaper.
The humorous part of this repair story is I had collected ebony fingerboard offcuts years ago from the dumpster outside the Larrivee factory while living in Vancouver. For all I know the ebony I used of this job actually came from the same piece of fingerboard!
I should add, lest there be any confusion, this client had this done to two Larrivee guitars, thus the different instruments shown in process photos.
LR Baggs violin pickup
We stock and install the popular LR Baggs Violin Bridge Pickup. Getting the most (tone production) out of any violin bridge requires proper fitting and carving of the bridge to your specific instrument. The bridges come as an oversize blank as seen in the photo below. Getting a perfect mate between the feet and violin top as well as correct thicknessing and bridge location are critical to good tone production.
This is especially true for the LR Baggs Superieur Despiau bridge with pick up as an integral part of the bridge. They are expected to perform acoustically and amplified, a bit of a compromise but fitted correctly they are certainly the choice of many violinists and produce enjoyable results in both realms.
Back to work and busy!
Well, for reasons unknown to myself, January is always busy in the repair shop. Thus my lack of attention to the digital realm. Many interesting projects and repairs in the shop right now and with a few more tweaks to the website I hope to share more of what happens in the back room at Mtn Fruit. Thought I would share a photo of this well loved Gibson J-40, almost looks sandblasted around the pick guard, still sounds great and is played regularily!
Happy Christmas from the Mtn Fruit Staff
Will be closed till Jan 3rd. Taking a much needed rest but must apologize for stating in the Valley Voice that I would be open on Christmas Eve till 3pm, I won’t!
See you in the New Year, thx for your support!
Adam Ruzzo
Adam casually wandered into the shop a few weeks ago and we hit it off immediately through our mutual love of all things Canadian. Especially the landscape and folk music.
Since winning the FCMF National Guitar Competition in 2010 at Montreal,QC Adam has turned his attention to solo paddle trips in Algonquin Park, Ontario. This park inspired many a painting from the ‘Group of Seven’ and Adam has followed in their footsteps composing original sketches on guitar and choreographing these compositions with film footage from his sojourns. The result is an ethereal beauty that immediately finds a place in the mystery of your adventurous, Canadian heart!
Thanks for sharing your creative energy Adam and we look forward to your upcoming winter album for which I know you are receiving great inspiration and suitable low temperatures in Yellowknife, NWT at present!
Check out Adams CD below and also the Adam Ruzzo’s Facebook for more info.
The guitar Adam is playing is a Cordoba C7 with Euro Spruce top and Indian Rosewood back and sides which can be played and purchased at Mtn Fruit.
You can also listen to this interview and more on Radio Free Kaslo with Randy Morse.